The wheels are among the unsprung masses of the vehicle. To make sporty driving characteristics possible, by way of good steering characteristics or high acceleration, for example, and to also increase the comfort of the vehicle, it is advantageous to keep the unsprung mass on the vehicle as low as possible.
For this purpose, in particular in sports cars, wheel rims are used which, through particularly sparing use of material, or through the use of particularly lightweight materials, have a low overall weight. Despite the desired weight reduction, it is necessary to ensure adequate strength of the wheel rim.
Wheel rims composed of aluminum or magnesium are known from the prior art. Furthermore, wheel rims are produced from fiber composite materials such as for example CFRP (carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic).
Here, CFRP wheel rims in particular must be designed such that they can withstand the forces that occur during operation and so as to exhibit adequately high resistance to the occurrence of defects.
In the present prior art, the transition from the wheel disk or the spoke region into the wheel rim well is a location regarded as being critical.